"The fey, eh? Well, now that's interesting... Here, let me see those wounds," Andrei said, casting Cure Light Wounds on Esmera.
CLW:
You stabilize Rohkar as he seems to still be alive. Your party regroups and heals. One of you tie Rohkar up, just in case he wakes up.
You find some items on Rohkar. A piece of parchment, a bottle of green oil, 2 bottles of brown oil, mwk studded leather armor, a dagger, a light crossbow with 10 bolts, mwk short sword, a cloak, mwk theives’ tools, a keyring, a spellbook, and a wooden symbol.
Both Ragnar & Andrei detect a magical aura on the cloak. You both know it's a faint aura.
Knowledge (Arcana)
Ragnar Lothveld
You don't know the school.
Spellcraft
Andrei Kovacs
You don't know what the cloaks magical properties are.
Knowledge (Religion)
Ragnar Lothveld
You're not sure who this symbol represents.
Dozens of small boxes, bottles, and papers fill this musty storeroom. A small iron cage sits on the top shelf, emanating a flickering light like that of a candle.
As you move into the room to examine it you hear shouting inside the cage. "Hey, hey I remember you. Hey there, hi! I'm Vosi, yes yes you remember?" You see a familiar face. One of the fey you spoke to earlier and let go.
"Well, I suppose we can always take the cloak and find someone else to identify it at some point," Andrei said, waiting to see what the others might want to claim for themselves first.
As you move into the room to examine it you hear shouting inside the cage. "Hey, hey I remember you. Hey there, hi! I'm Vosi, yes yes you remember?" You see a familiar face. One of the fey you spoke to earlier and let go.
"Well, fancy meeting you here," Andrei said with a smirk, "I guess those bandits caught up with you, eh?"
"Yeah I returned here after you let me go. Then an ugly one named Rohkar locked me up and teases me. He tried to get information out of me like you did, but instead of letting me go he just puts me in here. How rude!"
"How rude of him indeed! Well, we dealt with him now. Whatever did he want to know?" Andrei inquired.
Diplomacy:
Esmera pays little heed to the necromancer's sorcerous effects but is interested in the keyring. "One of those keys should get me my gear back!"
Upon seeing the fey she remains cautious but silent, waiting to see how the conversation develops.
Creed turns to Vosi and raises an eyebrow "The inconsiderate behavior and incivility of the denizens of these woods is staggering, it is not?"
"He was trying to learn about us. Like what our defenses are and how we have our magic."
"Is that so? Because the way I've heard it, he's been working with you fey," Andrei responded.
"That does sound right Andrei, Vosi might be lying to us. Wouldn't that be unwise of her?
"Well yes, no. He's working for the witches, not the fey." She laughs, "But he has no idea how expendable he is."
Vosi looks over at Creed and shivers. "Unwise, I'm already locked up in a cage. I'm not sure how much worse it could get. Why would I lie if I want my freedom. You let me out yes, I give you answers." She rattles the tiny cage door.
Creed is able to identify the cloak.
This heavy cloak is crafted from shaggy white yeti fur. When the cloak's hood is pulled up over the wearer's head, it takes on a semblance of its arctic namesake's fearsome visage. Northern warriors value its ability to ward against the chill of winter, as well as the protection it provides in combat. The cloak of the yeti provides a constant endure elements effect in cold weather (it has no effect in hot weather). In battle, the cloak wraps around the wearer, granting a +i natural armor bonus. In addition, with the hood drawn over the wearer's head, the cloak grants a +2 competence bonus on Intimidate skill checks.
"The witches?" Esmera raises a quizzical eyebrow. "Who are those witches and what do they want? How can we know YOU are not working for them? Having just spent a few days locked in a cellar myself, I can think of some fates worse than that. The cage could have been cold iron, for one. We need to be sure in our safety if we are to let you go."
Outside at the front door everyone hears a loud sound of crashes and clangs at the front door. You also hear a man shout, "Ouch what the hell, ready your weapons." Then you hear some knocking on the front door, then the door opens and you hear a number of foot shuffles as a number of humanoids seem to be entering the building.
"This place is more exciting than home." Vosi seems to ignore your question as you hear all the commotion downstairs.
Creed walks up the stairs with her hands in the air This is a huge misunderstanding, some necromancer came in while you were gone and we cleared it. My name is Creed Baguette, and I am at your service" and she makes a sweeping bow.
Andrei sighed, and followed after Creed to see what all the commotion was, Kilava close behind him.
Ragnar follows Andrei down the stairs mumbling under his breath, What now?
When he gets downstairs, he looks at the clothes they are wearing to try and determine who they are.
You see a small group of knights. Ragnar recognizes they have the Taldan emblem on their armor. The men all stop as Creed rushes down the stairs along with the others following behind. "Halt!" He party says to his men and you. "Where is Lady Argentea? We are aware an adventuring party went after her. I imagine that would be you lot. Have you found her, is she ok?"
Creed smiles and sayssays "I don't believe we've found her yet, and yes we are that adventuring party. There is a 1 more downstairs, and we found a woman held captive."
"Er, actually, I believe the woman currently unconscious in the cellar would be said Lady Argentea," Andrei said, recalling that Esmera had told them as such, "We were just cleaning up here and having a lovely conversation with some captured fey upstairs."
The man waves to his men and gestures for them to respond. "Where is the cellar, we must get her out now and return her home."
Andrei leads the man to the cellar, and, presumably, to Lady Argentea.
The men rush to open the cellar and one goes in. Shortly after he comes out with the Lady. She is still unconscious. They look for a bed to lay her down onto. "Thank the heavens she's alive." The leader of the group looks over at Rohkar unconscious on the ground. "And what of him?"
"Fellow by the name of Rohkar, some necromancer and the leader of this lot that kidnapped Lady Argentea. Nasty piece of work, he's apparently working with some witches and some fey, the details of which we were attempting to extract from the fey he was holding prisoner upstairs," Andrei responded.
As the Taldan soldiers attend to the Lady Argentea, you notice that one of the group is not wearing the standard military uniform. He is a study in contrasts: he has on a fashionable cap, stylish boots, and fur-lined coat over studded leather armor, but all the items have clearly seen better days. The boots are polished, but the heel is worn down to next to nothing. The hat was fashionable in court 5 years ago, and is worn at the edges. He has a scholarly bearing marked by inquisitive eyes that are constantly searching, but also a martial stance, with a morningstar hanging at this side and a short bow strapped to his bulging backpack.
Once Lady Argentea is placed in an appropriately comfortable place, he turns to the group and introduces himself:
“Greetings, noble adventurers! I had heard a group beat us to the search for Lady Argentea. My personal thanks for saving her. She has been something of a patron to me recently, and I would be devastated if something ill befell her.
But I get ahead of myself! My name is Vyr Embar. Scholar, tutor, advisor, archeologist, astrologer, and problem-solver to various and sundry nobles of the Inner Sea.”
Vyr bows, but does not remove his cap, before continuing.
“Now that I have seen the lady safely recovered, I am interested in investigating this strange meteorological phenomenon. Is that your intent? And if so, might I join your merry band?”
"We shall take this man then as a prisonr to pay for his crimes of kidnapping and to be tried in the name of justice. Fey you say? Well as long as the lady is safe I don't really care to much about it. The councilor of Heldren was concerned about the spreading winter. It seems it has engulfed the town and still spreading. She stated that if we find you, to give you this as a reward and perhaps a bribe to investigate the core of this." He hands out a coin pouch of 500 gp.
"We can take the Lady to saftey if you wish to pursue. If you don't, I understand. I wouldn't want to either." He waits for your response.
Esmera, in her ragged, week-worn and partially torn clothes, ill-fitting armor looted from a male bandit, and scarred and unkempt face, gives the newcomer a long evaluating look.
"My own intent was to establish ties between the Taldan knightly orders and the Grey Maidens of the Queen Kroft of Korvosa. But after I've been overcome by these bandits working together with strange winter monsters, and subsequently rescued by this intrepid group, I am concerned that Taldor will not be able to divert any resources outside while this frosty mayhem continues. I pledge myself to uncovering the root of this unpleasantness. If you wish to join us, beware - judging by experiences so far, I don't think it's going to be a comfortable sleigh ride. Blood may get spilled and stain your fine boots."
Ragnar nods at Vyr, "Nice to meet you. Name's Ragnar Lothveld. I'm not sure what our intent is as of yet. We found the Lady, which was our mission at hand. Ending an eternal winter would make a hell of a song though. She's right though," Ragnar motions to Esmera, "This journey would soil those shiny shoes of yours."
"Well, dirty shoes never killed anyone, and I expect we will need every man we can get," Andrei stated, "Though I doubt we are in any condition to proceed without some rest."
He accepted the gold from the man, "Yes, I expect it would be best for you to get the good Lady someplace safe," he agreed, "I for one am willing to investigate this strange weather further, though. I can't say recent events have much endeared me to this snow..."
Vyr will go to her side once the soldiers have found a comfortable place for her to rest. He'll try to assess what is wrong.
Creed says "Investigating the approaching winter would definitely be an alluring option, I hate the fey and it seems like they might have something to do with the oddness."
Vyr checks the lady. She seems to be exhausted. You think if you took some effort, you might be able to wake her up.
Vyr takes some water from his waterskin and flicks it at the Lady's face, and then begins trying to rouse her by clasping one hand and patting it. "My lady, please, return to us!"
The lady begins to wake up, as she comes to it appears she's in a state of shock but quickly wears off after she notices all the Taldan soldiers in the area observing her. "I, I am so greatful." she quietly sighs.
Andrei nodded, "Well, if we are to investigate this unnatural winter, I expect we had best continue our interrogation of the fey. Care to join us, Mr. Embar?"
"Certainly. What have you learned thus far about these bandits, and their connection to the fey and this unseasonable weather?"
"Only that they are somehow related. The fey apparently came through some portal, and somewhere along the line the bandits started working for some bloody witches," Andrei responded.
"Looks like their alliance is tenuous, given that the bandit leader holds a fey creature captive in the cage upstairs. We were just about to question it. And on the subject of questioning - I would very much like to know where did they hide my battle gear!"
Ragnar will start making another, more thorough sweep of the lodge, detecting magic to see if there is anything we missed.
@Esmera, "We might want to double-check the stables and the shed as well. Your gear has to be around here somewhere."
You hear the small sound of a cage rattleing, "Hey hey you're not going to leave me up here. Don't please. This is boring. Hey.... hey....... hey..........."
The leader of this group speaks up, "You should probably kill that creature before any more trickery. My lady, you're awake. Don't move, you're in no condition to be getting up." He moves into the room she is in. "Your father sent us. He's rather upset with you. He wishes for you to return home and explain whey you did not accept the marriage proposel." He lets out a sigh. "I know why, but it is my duty my lady."
She smiles up at him weakly. "I will tell my father that I am not his negotiation tool if he's going to try and marry me off to an idiot."
"Please lead the way to this fey creature; perhaps I can parlay with him."
"Oh, I expect we will have to kill it, once we get our questions answered," Andrei said quietly, leading Vyr back up to the fey.
"Oh hey, I knew you'd come back to let me out!" They fey looks up at Andrei all hopeful.
"Not quite yet, I'm afraid," Andrei responded, "Now, you were mentioning some witches. Care to elaborate?"
Vyr studies the creature to try and identify it, hoping to use any information on weaknesses or predilictions to their advantage in the interrogation.
This lithe, diminutive blue-skinned creature looks like a humanoid with wispy, mothlike wings and long, thin ears. Unlike normal fey, this creature has a blue tint to its skin.
A sprite’s body is naturally luminous, although the sprite can vary the color and intensity of its body as it wishes. Shortly after death, a sprite’s body simply melts away to a twinkling vapor. Sprites are among the smallest of fey, standing just over 9 inches in height and rarely weighing more than 1 or 2 pounds.
Sprites are more primitive in many ways than most fey. They enjoy each other’s company, but tend to be distrustful of other fey and assume any humanoids and any other creatures that they haven’t expressly chosen to protect mean to do them ill. Even animals are generally regarded as dangerous. Much of this is due to sprites’ diminutive size, which makes them popular targets for predators. As a result, a sprite’s initial reaction to danger is typically to flee—it uses its spell-like abilities to delay or distract pursuers, and relies on its speed in flight and its size to allow it to escape in the end.
While sprites themselves are relatively uncultured and savage in nature, they do have a healthy curiosity for all things magical in nature. They are particularly drawn to sites of great but latent magical power, such as the ruins of ancient temples. This curiosity makes them unusually receptive to roles as familiars as well. A 5th-level chaotic neutral spellcaster with the Improved Familiar feat can gain a sprite as a familiar.
Ragnar looks at the fey, "It seems you came straight back here to warn our enemies we were heading their way. You betray us after we were so nice upon letting you go? We didn't have to let you go, and that promise of removing your wings is still on the table. So what is really going on here?"
"I am not surprised at this creature's duplicity. As if fey weren't troublemakers enough, this one is a servant of the winter witches of Irrisen. What in the nine hells is it doing here? This certainly suggests a cause for this unseasonable weather."